Lolopo (autonyms: lɔ21lo33pʰɔ21, lo31lo31pʰo31; Chinese: 彝语中部方言; Central Yi) is a Loloish language spoken by half a million Yi people of China. Chinese speakers call it Central Yi, as the name Lolopo does not exist in Chinese. It is one of the six Yi languages recognized by the government of China.
Distribution
The Lolo language is mainly spoken in central Yunnan. It is also spoken on different sides of the China-Myanmar–Laos border.
In Laos, Lolo is spoken in three villages of Phongsaly Province, where the language is usually referred to as Lolopho.
In Myanmar, Lolo is spoken in Shan State. The language is usually referred to as Eastern Gaisu, and they are classified as the Gaisu subgroup of the Lisu people.
Names
Lolo speakers are referred to by a variety of exonyms. Below is a list of exonyms followed by their respective autonyms and demographics.[2]
Mili: lo21lo33pʰo21 (spoken by about 12,000 people in Jingdong County). Also called Alie.
Enipu 厄尼蒲 (ɣɯ55ni21pa̠21 'water buffalo people', an offensive exonym used by Lalo speakers): lo21lo33pʰo21 (spoken in Nanjian County). Spoken by nearly 20,000 people in Weishan County (Qinghua Township) and Nanjian County (in Wuliang, Xiaowandong, and Langcang townships)
Tu 土 (Tuzu 土族): lo21lo33pʰo21 (spoken by nearly 10,000 people in southern Xiangyun County)
Qiangyi 羌夷: lɔ̠21lɔ33sɨ55 (spoken by nearly 15,000 people in northern and central Xiangyun County)
Eastern Lalu: lo̠21lo̠33 (spoken by nearly 20,000 people in Xinping County and Zhenyuan County). The Xinping dialect is documented in Wang (2020). In Xinping County, there are about 3,000 ethnic "Lalu" (腊鲁; i.e., Lolopo) in Malutang 马鹿塘 and Mowei 磨味 villages, located in Jianxing Township 建兴乡.[3]
Xiangtang 香堂 (spoken in Zhenkang County). Widespread distribution in Jinggu, Zhenyuan, Pu'er, Jiangcheng, Mengla, Jinghong, and Zhenkang counties, with perhaps under 80,000 speakers.
The Chuxiong Prefecture Ethnic Gazetteer (2013:364)[6] lists the following cognacy percentages between Lolopo 罗罗濮 and other Yi languages in Chuxiong Prefecture.
Sounds /ʊ,ʊ/ are pronounced as syllabic consonants [z̩ʷ,z̩ʷ] when following alveolar sibilants, and as [v̩,v̩] when following /d/ in a low [˨] tone syllable.
Sounds /i,i/ are heard as syllabic consonants [z̩,z̩] when following alveolar sibilants.
Sounds /ɯ,ɯ/ are heard as central sounds [ə,ə] when following alveolar consonants.
/æ/ is heard as open-mid [ɛ] following alveolar plosives /t,d,ts,dz/, a palatal fricative /ʝ/, and within palatalized diphthongs /ʲ/.[7]
